Sixty minutes of superb defense and one last defensive stand gave No. 1 ranked and defending national champ East Mississippi and No. 6 Jones MACJC state semifinal wins respectively Saturday.

The host Lions held No. 16 Copiah-Lincoln to 200 yards total offense in a 31-7 victory. Jones survived a 36-34 home shootout with No. 5 Northwest Mississippi by stopping one last Rangers’ threat in the final minute.

The victors advanced to next Saturday’s 2 p.m. state championship game in Ellisville where Jones will host in Bobcat Stadium/Sim Cooley Field.

Here’s what happened in Saturday’s semifinals:

East Mississippi 31, Copiah Lincoln 7

East Mississippi’s No. 1 nationally ranked defense held Copiah-Lincoln scoreless for the game’s first 53 minutes, which was more than enough time for Lions quarterback Messiah deWeaver to spark the offense.

deWeaver, a Michigan State transfer, completed 28-of-34 passes for 275 yards (his second highest total of the season). He threw for one touchdown and an interception.

His 8-for-8 passing accuracy on the Lions’ opening scoring drive, capped by his 21-yard scoring strike to Dontario Drummond, was a sign of things to come.

East Mississippi finished with 435 yards total offense. Besides the deWeaver and Drummond (seven catches for 84 yards, one TD) pass-catch combination, running back Deon McIntosh ran for 105 yards and the game’s final TD in the fourth quarter.

It was a steady, dominating beatdown. The Lions led 7-0 after the first quarter, 14-0 at halftime and 24-0 at the end of the third period.

“Coach Collins did a great job with the defense, and then Coach Boykin with the offense just did a phenomenal job," Stephens told the Meridian Star. "We had a really good game plan."

Copiah-Lincoln’s only points came with 6:49 left to play when quarterback Hayden Davis threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to receiver DeMartre Collins.

“I thought the defense played very, very relentless,” Stephens said. “They did a great job of not letting their emotions get the best of them. It would have been very easy for that to happen today.”

Jones 36, Northwest 34

This was a fabulous back-and-forth battle with four lead changes, sparked by quarterbacks Stenson Bennett of Jones (314 yards passing, three TDs, one interception) and Northwest’s Jacob Free (248 yards, four TDs).

As good as Bennett played – he also had a team-high 67 rushing yards – his top three passing targets were equal to the task.

Jones receivers Natorian Watts (7) and Immanuel Jones (20) are fired up after a touchdown in the Bobcats’ 36-34 MACJC state semifinal win over Northwest on Saturday.(Photo: jucoweekly.org)

The absolute unsung hero was Jones placekicker Cristofer Thompson. He made all three of his field goal attempts, including a 44-yarder in the second quarter and back-to-back kicks of 20 and 50 yards in the third quarter.

Jones needed all that, as well as defensive end Chei Hill’s usual excellence (nine tackles, three for loss and one sack), to overcome four turnovers.

The game was decided in the last 10 minutes.

Jones went 73 yards in nine plays with Donte Edwards 6-yard TD run and Thompson’s extra point extended the Bobcats’ lead to 36-28 with 7:51 left.

Northwest immediately countered with a 17-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Chris Calvert scored on a 3-yard run to cut Jones' margin to two points with 1:04 left. But Free’s game-tying two-point conversion pass was batted away by Jones safety Fred Peters.

Jones College linebacker Daylen Gill (34) celebrates after a sack during Saturday’s 36-34 MACJC state semifinal win over Northwest.(Photo: jucoweekly.org)

The only remaining hope for Northwest was to recover an onside kickoff. That’s exactly what the Rangers’ Jayce Rogers did at the Northwest 47,

With 1:01 left and no timeouts, Northwest managed to advance to the Jones 37 where Free fired four straight incompletions to end the final threat.